


Panthers

by Toxicbear2000



Category: Original Work
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-04-19
Updated: 2016-04-21
Packaged: 2018-06-03 07:48:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,568
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6602653
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Toxicbear2000/pseuds/Toxicbear2000
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Evelyn didn't see it coming at first but Justin definitely like her.</p>
          </blockquote>





	1. Graduation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Evelyn didn't see it coming at first but Justin definitely like her.

Today's the day. I graduate and I get to choose my path in the clan. I comb my hair and put on a sophisticated outfit. "Evelyn." my mother calls. And it starts... 

"Evelyn can you get your brother ready? I have to get ready and there won't be time for me to get him ready."

"Yeah mom I got it." I tell her. I walk into my brother's room and he's still asleep. Are you kidding me?! "Hey Adam, rise and shine." I pull open the wooden shutters.

"Eve! What's wrong with you?!" he cries out as he falls out of bed.

"Hey, dad used to wake me up like this until I learned to wake up right before he came in." I tell him, "Get ready, you have 10 minutes." I wonder if Justin will be there. I mean, he's already graduated but that doesn't mean he can't attend the graduation. It takes a frickn lifetime but mom and Adam are finally ready to go and we start walking to the Great Tree in the middle of the forest. The Great Tree is the biggest tree in the forest and is said to be the first tree that made the rest. Although, The Great Tree has multi colored bark, red leaves, and white flowers that smell of strawberries. All the other trees are just green. We are only aloud access to the Great Tree in a time in ceremony. I was aloud last year because Justin was graduating. He chose the warrior path and warrior training took up most of his days.

We walk into the circle of light. The circle of light is the ring around the Great Tree made of light from the gap between The Great tree and the rest of the forest. We sit next to Adam's friend Sammy's family. What are they doing here. Sammy and Adam aren't due to graduate for 5 more years. Well, Sammy has an older sister named Gemma but she's not due to graduate for 3 more years. Did they come to see me? No, they don't really like me. They don't like the idea of a white panther in the Panther Clan. I'm the only white panther here and most think that I'm just weird, except Justin. But Justin graduated at the top of the other graduates and other girls just adore him. 

"Hey Evy." Justin whispers in my ear. My reflexes take over and I jump. Speak of the dead. He's the only one who calls me Evy. Normally it's either Evelyn or Eve. He smiles at me and sits down so I join him. "Excited?" I look at him. His eyes are a gorgeous green and match his hair. Well, we're covered in fur but our heads have hair. His is considered long for a male but it makes him look good. In my opinion, it's short and it only goes a little past his eyes. He is always flicking it to the side so he can see and he makes it look good when he does. My hair is long, straight, and blue (which is also rare in the panther clan, to have both blue eyes and hair; those that have blue eyes normally have black hair that matches their fur). "Is that a no?" 

"No, I-I just worry if my choice is right or not." I tell him. He nods and gives me that look of don't second guess yourself.

"Alright, let's begin shall we?" our clan leader Lenos says. Everyone goes silent and Lenos starts naming off the names of those graduating. I'm 3rd to be called and I go to to the Great Tree and climb to a sturdy branch like the rest. "Gemma." Lenos says. Gemma stands and climbs the tree to a small branch just under me. I look around and everyone is just as confused as I am. Lenos says 5 more names and he turns to us. We put our foreheads to the trunk of the tree and whisper our names to it. Then we climb down and form a line in front of Lenos. "Choose your path." he says and baskets are set in front of him with different objects. I pick up a bow which represents the warrior path and Gemma also picks up a bow. Is she out of her mind?! She's half my size and probably weighs less than a feather. Training will probably kill her. 

We take our objects to our trainer. Gemma and I's trainer is Lucas. Lucas is said to be the harshest trainer in the clan with the best warriors. Good luck Gemma. He whistles and a rabbit comes to his feet. Justin has a falcon, he told me that warriors get a soul animal. He never told me what they are used for or why but I'm guessing they're important. Without even saying anything, Lucas turns and starts walking into the forest. He climbs a tree and we follow. "Your first lesson is tree jumping. You should've done this the moment you figured out you could climb trees but it hasn't been practiced by our clan for centuries. So we decided that warriors get to learn it. Watch and follow once you think you've got it. If you don't make it, I'll come back for you but there'll be consequences for that." Lucas says and starts jumping from tree to tree using his claws to hold onto branches and tree trunks. 

I get how he's doing it and I jump to the tree in front of me and turn to see how Gemma will do while Lucas slowly disappears into the forest. Gemma jumps and just barley makes it. She's going too slowly, she'll get in trouble. I can't believe I'm doing this. I take her arm, fling her over my back, and start jumping through the trees. Lucas starts to come back into sight and drops to the ground. I let Gemma off 3 trees away from where Lucas stands, waiting for us. I make out with a satisfyingly quiet landing and Gemma makes a loud-ish landing but at least she made it. "Follow me to see where you will be living." Lucas says and starts walking towards a cluster of shelters. I forget that you move out of your parent's shelter the moment you graduate. These look nicer than the one my parents live in. My parents chose the garden path when they graduated so that's where I grew up. Don't get me wrong, kits aren't aloud to help out in their parent's work. 

Lucas stops outside of 2 shelters, "These are your shelters. They're the same so pick one and scratch your name onto the name plate. Be at the training center 10 minutes after dawn." He walks away and leaves us there in silence. 

"Thank you" Gemma says to me. 

"You're welcome but you need to practice." I tell her. She nods and goes to the shelter in the right so I take the 1 on the left. We scratch our names on the name plates and walk to the trees. "Use your claws to hold onto the tree." She nods and she jumps to the next tree. "Trust your body to know what it has to do and jump." She jumps again, this time with more accuracy. "Good, now speed up your pace." It takes her a few minutes but then she's on a roll. "Now jump down. Keep your knees bent and don't lock them." She lands quieter this time but still noisy. "Try again, you can do it." Warriors are known for their stealth.

"Hey." Justin whispers in my ear. I jump in fright and land on the ground.

"Justin! What's wrong with you?!" I yell. He just smiles and jumps down to join me.

"Sorry Evy, you're just so approachable." he says and smiles. I roll my eyes and look for Gemma. She's walking back to the shelters.

"I'll be in my shelter if you need me." she says and disappears.

"Shouldn't you be with some girl that's just dying to look at you?" I ask him.

"Why be with them when I can spend time with you?" he says. I can't help it, my ears flatten against my head, I look at the forest floor and blush. Why me? There are other female panthers that are prettier than me. Possibly smarter too. "Evy, you're not like other panthers." I look up to see him half smiling at me. I half smile back. "You're unique." I look at him with confusion. I know I'm 'unique' I'm the only white panther in the fucking clan. "Oh god if you could just step into my body for a day, you could see it." I don't understand, I can see myself. It's called a mirror. He curls a finger under my chin, pulls my face up, and kisses me. His lips are soft and warmth washes over me but it only last for a second before he pulls away.

He gets up and I swallow hard. I don't want him to go. I reach my hand up and grab his arm to stop him. He stops but I don't know what to say. I just don't want him to leave. He turns around and I look into his eyes. He's been my best friend for 3 years, this is the only time I've never known what to say to him. So I don't say anything, I put my hand on the back of his neck and pull him into a kiss of my own. He wraps his arms around my waist and kisses me back. We pull away to breathe and he holds me close to his chest. I've never felt closer to him or anyone until now.


	2. Target Practice

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Evelyn is great with a bow but says that it's beginner's luck. Lucas doesn't believe in beginner's luck.

"Listen up!" Lucas calls to the others, "Evelyn and Gemma are the new graduates this year. Now, we're not going to go easy but they'll have to learn to keep up so I need 2 of you to partner up with them." Justin steps forward first and and stands next to me. Another, who is almost smaller than Gemma, steps forward and stands next to Gemma. "Alright then. Let's do some tree jumping as a start exercise for today." We follow Lucas to the tree line and and the boys at the start of the line go first.

"I practiced for a bit yesterday so I think I'll be able to keep up." Gemma says and and starts jumping with her partner.

"Care to show me what you can do Evy?" Justin asks and jumps into the trees. I smile and race after him. We tree jumped for only ten minutes when we come to a river and it's roaring fast. "What're we doing here."

"It's part of our morning chores." Justin tells us, "We supply the farms with water seen as it's too dangerous to have the crops next to the river. Kits could get washed away and it floods a lot. So, we help out." Never thought about that. We grab 2 buckets and a branch to hold them on our backs. Gemma gets the 2 smallest that her partner could find. We each have to make 2 trips but we get the job done and head back to the training center. "Not tired yet?" I shake my head at him. That wasn't hard.

"Archery practice." Lucas calls out. Justin gets him and I a bow and Quiver each. I don't know how to shoot 1 but I've seen warriors shoot them.

"I take it you don't know how to shoot 1?" he asks. I roll my eyes and pick up the bow and grab an arrow. I put hold them exactly how I saw others holding them and Justin moves over to mimic my body stance. He lifts my right arm a little and helps me pull back the string. He steps away and I let go. It hits a bit under the middle of the target. I get another arrow, this time aiming a little higher. It hits, directly in the middle of the target.

"Nice shot." Lucas says. I jump at the sudden sound and he laughs a little, "Well hello jumpy. Is that your first try?" I shake my head. "Even then, only the second shot, nice job. She's a better shot than you Justin." I can see that Justin is forcing his smile now.

"I doubt that." I tell him. Everyone stops shooting. Did I say something wrong? "It could just be beginner's luck."

"Justin, stand against the tree." Lucas says and Justin does without hesitation. "Spread your fingers with your hands against the tree." I don't like this. "Now, jumpy, I want you to shoot an arrow in between his fingers. Justin, do you trust that she can do it without cutting you?" He doesn't say anything but he looks at me and blinks once. I know that means yes. When I thought about running away, because I was getting pushed around by other females, I didn't really know where to go so I just went to Justin instead. I didn't want to tell him so I just stood there like and idiot so he said, "Blink once for yes and twice for no." He easily found out why I was upset and comforted me.

I pull the bow back and shoot the arrow between his right index finger and his thumb. "Next." Lucas says impatiently. I shoot three more in between the rest on his right hand. Each time I feel less and less sure that I won't hit him. "Alright. Have I proven my point?" I nod and he walks away. I set the bow and quiver down and walk into the forest. I climb a large-ish tree, hold my knees, and just sit. Justin, of course, finds which tree I'm in and sits on the branch next to me. He pulls me into a hug and I let loose and cry. I hate being embarrassed and Lucas just absolutely ruined my dignity.

"I don't understand what I did Justin." I cry. I feel so fucking pitiful right now. I don't want Justin to see me like the but it's hard when I've got no one else. Justin cradles my head with his hand and wraps his tail around me. I look up at him and he greets me with a half smile.

"I know. Lucas just doesn't believe in beginners luck so he makes it clear if someone has talent." Justin says. He kisses my forehead and holds me again. "You can take the rest of the day off if you want. He won't hold it against you." I nod and lean deeper into his chest. I will for sure if it means a whole free day with Justin. "Want to go hunting? I can get 2 bows." I look up at him and nod. He moves my hair away from my face and cradles my cheek in his hand. I can't help but think about why he chose me and not some other panther. "If it helps, I wasn't his favorite student either." I laugh a bit at that. I believe that because his parents straight up hated to teach him. He was always off in his own world of 'I can do it myself'. "I'll be back in a few minutes."


End file.
